Organic poultry farmer needs producers

Has more orders

than chickens

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

LAMBERTON -- Help wanted: more organic chicken raisers.

The manager of Southwest Minnesota Poultry Coop Ray Teeter asked for help Friday at the University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center 6th Annual Field Day because he has sold more chickens than he has.

The coop is a group of small-scale growers of certified, organically-raised and processed chicken broilers and eggs.

Chickens are raised with access to pasture grass and fed a ration of flax with a high concentration of Omega 3 fatty acids and polyunsaturated fats. The ingredients lacking in most diets but essential for human nutrition while decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Teeter said one of the coop's organic eggs produces as much "good" fat as 3.5 ounces of tuna.

Saturated fats make the human body produce more cholesterol, particularly LDL (bad) cholesterol. Eating too much saturated fats raises the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Monounsaturated fats lower blood cholesterol and create a healthier balance of good and bad cholesterol.

Omega 3 fatty acids are often found in fish and green, leafy vegetables and now in organic eggs. Elevated consumption of Omega 3 fatty acids is recommended for people that have or are concerned about heart disease, cancer and arthritis.

Feed grains are grown with no farm chemicals, antibiotics, GMO's, animal by-products or growth hormones. Lab results are available from Teeter by writing him at 3200 Maple Ave., Slayton, MN 56172.

The coop is committed to sustaining small-scale producers and rural communities while providing quality products to consumers. Members include Dennis and Cherry Jeske of Hanska, Mike Hewitt of Walnut Grove, Dave and Regina Lowe of Olivia and Brad Van Binsbergen and Jerry Nuytten of Clarkfield.

Beth Nelson of the Minnesota Institute of Sustainable Agriculture said her office on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota connects producers and researchers. It seeks students interested in minoring in sustainable agriculture and resource conservation.

Minnesota is one of the most exciting places to be regarding organic agriculture -- a rapidly-growing food industry sector -- according to a state official.

"The more things happen, the more things happen," said Meg Moynihan of the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture. "It's like a snowball rolling downhill."

Her office offers information, education, and assistance in many organic areas including production methods, transition, certification and marketing while enforcing truth-in-labeling laws.

Minnesota's Certification Cost Share Program -- which has been imitated nationally -- provides up to $500 to growers and handlers (processors) to help offset certification costs. The application deadline is Nov. 15, 2003.

The Organic Web Page (www.mda.state.mn.us/esap/organic) offers information and links to sources and organizations and sample record forms.

Audry Arner of the Land Stewarship Project in Montevideo said the Farm Beginnings class is geared to deal with the fact that the average farmer is 58 years old. Graduates can qualify for zero interest loans from Heifer International.

"Farmers have heirs but not many successors," Arner said. "Who will succeed them 10 years from now? The really big operators or creative, young farmers that don't know what can't be done so they do it. New farmers are the hardest crop to grow."

The Land Stewardship's Pride of the Prairie program links the local food system with an international food service processor. One goal of the program is to feature only Minnesota-grown foods at the University of Minnesota.

Mary Jo Forbord of the Sustainable Farming Association said her organization is a diverse, non-profit organization run by farmers for farmers.

"The opportunities are nearly endless," Forbord said. "Food production and marketing is becoming more diverse and complex."